Buckle up Butler County

Published 12:00 am Saturday, May 17, 2003

The third annual Click It or Ticket (CIOT) program is soon to be implemented in Alabama.

From Monday, May 19 to Sunday, June 1, anyone caught driving a vehicle or riding in the front seat without a seatbelt will be fined $25.

To avoid a $10 fine, children in the vehicle must also be secured properly.

Email newsletter signup

Across Alabama, state and local law enforcement officials will establish hundreds of patrols and checkpoints for the CIOT seatbelt awareness and enforcement program.

The goal of the program is to increase Alabama’s seatbelt usage from last year’s 79 percent to 85 percent.

&uot;The Greenville Police Department also will be participating in the program,&uot; Police Chief Lonzo Ingram said. &uot;I doubt we will be setting up any checkpoints, but we will definitely be heightening our attention to seatbelt usage when making traffic stops. And yes, tickets will be given if the occupants of the stopped vehicles aren’t wearing seatbelts.&uot;

Butler County Chief Deputy Sheriff Ronald Coleman said the sheriff’s office will consider setting up checkpoints to monitor county residents’ seatbelt usage, but will be participating in the program and making random traffic stops to check for compliance.

&uot;Anyone found not wearing a seatbelt certainly will be ticketed,&uot; Coleman said.

For more information, visit www.clickit-or-ticket.com and www.buckleupamerica.org.